Adobe on Wednesday announced Flash Player 11 and AIR 3, which it said will offer cross-device development for 3D-intensive games on devices like Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Adobe said its latest AIR and Flash Player software will offer developers support on a range of platforms, though because Flash is not allowed on iOS, it will be restricted to the new AIR 3. In addition to iOS, the new software will support Apple's Mac OS X, Google Android, RIM BlackBerry, Microsoft Windows, connected TVs and other platforms.

Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 have been declared by Adobe to be the "game console for the Web," as they will allow 2D and 3D games to be played over the Internet on "nearly all PCs and many other devices."

"With this milestone release Adobe pushes the envelope of what is possible on the Web with a typical PC and opens up a new world of immersive, high-performance gaming experiences," said Danny Winokur, vice president and general manager of Platform at Adobe.

"Flash offers the best way for content owners to deliver their most demanding experiences, including games, premium video and sophisticated data-driven apps, to all of their users, while HTML 5 tools such as Adobe Edge and Dreamweaver are ideal for building interactive Web pages, rich ads, branded microsites and general-purpose mobile applications."

Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 will be publicly available in early October, while Flash Builder and Flex -- Adobe's open source framework for building mobile, Web and desktop apps -- are scheduled to receive updates to support the new features before the end of the year.

Features of Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 highlighted by Adobe include:
Accelerated 2D/3D Graphics: Full hardware-accelerated rendering for 2D and 3D graphics enable 1,000 times faster rendering performance over Flash Player 10 and AIR 2. Developers are able to animate millions of objects with smooth 60 frames per second rendering and deliver console-quality games on Mac OS, Windows and connected televisions. A pre-release brings these same accelerated 2D and 3D capabilities to mobile platforms including Android, Apple iOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS. A production release for mobile platforms is expected in the near future. For examples of 3D games for Flash Player, visit adobe.com/go/gaming.

AIR Native Extensions: With support for thousands of highly-optimized, open-source libraries, developers are able to tap into unique software and hardware capabilities including access to device data, vibration control, magnetometers, light sensors, dual screens, near field communications (NFC) and more. Native extensions also allow developers to more deeply integrate AIR applications with other business software.

Captive Runtime: Developers can automatically package AIR 3 with their applications to simplify the installation process on Android, Windows and Mac OS in addition to Apple iOS. Users no longer have to download and update AIR separately on any of these platforms, or BlackBerry Tablet OS, which includes AIR built in. In addition, with the captive runtime option developers can manage version updates to their application independent of general AIR updates by Adobe.

Content Protection: Premium video content can now be protected using Adobe Flash Access 3 across all supported platforms, including new support for mobile platforms.

HD Video Quality Across Platforms: Full frame rate HD video can now be displayed within AIR applications on Apple iOS devices using H.264 hardware decoding. Rich applications on televisions are also able to deliver HD video with 7.1 channel surround sound.

Rental and Subscriptions Support: With support for Adobe Flash Access and Adobe Pass, content publishers can take advantage of rental and subscription options for more flexible business models and offer TV Everywhere content to more than 80 percent of U.S. pay TV subscribers.

Compatibility: 64-bit support on Linux, Mac OS and Windows ensures a seamless experience with the latest 64-bit browsers.

Adobe and Apple have been at odds for years as Apple has not allowed Flash onto its iOS-powered devices, including the iPhone and iPad. Last April, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs published a letter slamming Flash as outdated technology unfit for the modern era of mobile computing.

But Apple also conceded some ground to Adobe and others last September when it began allowing applications in its iOS App Store that were created with third-party development tools. Previously, software written in those third-party tools and ported to iOS was banned from being available on the Apple-controlled App Store.

Adobe has since moved to capitalize on Apple's concession, adding support for building iOS applications with its Flash Builder and Flex software in June. The company is also working to add support for Apple's new Newsstand application, a major feature of the forthcoming iOS 5 update, into Adobe's Digital Publishing Suite, which is used to produce digital publications for the iPad, as well as Android-powered tablets and RIM's PlayBook.

And earlier this month, Adobe announced a new version of its Flash Media Server software that would deliver video to Apple's iPhone and iPad. The updated software will add the ability for its Flash Media Server product to serve iOS-compatible HTML5 video in addition to Flash video.

Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 have been declared by Adobe to be the "game console for the Web," as they will allow 2D and 3D games to be played over the Internet on "nearly all PCs and many other devices."

I don't get it, this 'game console for the web' thing comes off as a really stupid way to try to keep Flash relevant. I can't for the life of me imagine a single target audience that would want to have a 'game console for the web', except Flash devs, but they would like anything that brings them more Flash jobs.

When it comes to games, consoles have their pros and cons, and game PC's have their pros and cons. Serious gaming through Flash only has cons. It doesn't make efficient use of that uber-powerful PC gaming rig you build, and it doesn't provide the controlled/reliable and pleasant experience of playing games from the couch, on a big screen TV. Also, the way serious games work is almost opposite to the goal of 'cross platform, cross device' applications.

This all comes off as very desperate to me. It's pretty neat that you can now do serious 3D graphics through Flash, but that's about it. Serious gaming through Flash does not serve anyone except all the poor Flash devs scared to be out of a job soon, but considering that serious game devs probably prefer using other dev tools for games, I'm really dumbfounded who the target audience for marketing slogans as 'game console for the web' is

Things have been headed downhill for Adobe since they started transitioning from a Software Development company to a Sales/Marketing company. I don't think they realize they still need to be good at BOTH ... not just Sales/Marketing.

Hey if all console games were as quality as SMB3 and TMNT, I'd be happy, sadly most fall well short of the mark.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleDroid

Can we at least get an option of whether or not to use Flash now that old turtleneck is gone? Would be great for the Flash game websites.

I'll pass on having my battery life run dead on an iPhone or iPad b/c I made the mistake of using Flash.

I also really question that 1000% increase over Flash 10. That is 10x greater or an entire order of magnitude. That kind of bump is extraordinarily rare. If it happens great, so long as the increased performance means it uses an inverse amount of my CPU. Doubtful.

People who say that are just liars or Apple makes special computers for me that don't ever have that problem.

Actually it's entirely possible that there is some poorly coded flash out there that does that. Just b/c you never run into that specific software doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Usually the people who make these claims do fail to mention what they are running in Flash that is producing this CPU time, so that certainly makes it hard to reproduce. Sorry, I test software, so I think about things like this

Meanwhile, Machinarium, a lovely but decidedly 2D game based on AIR requires an iPad 2 to even run. Adobe, their software is always *going* to be awesome.

AIR 3 will bring Stage 3D hardware acceleration to a multitude of devices with the same markup with the best authoring tools for creative content development on the market. XCode and Objective C is only useful if you only target one device manufacturers equipment. Considering what they've been able to accomplish using only CPU rendering, it's a showcase of how capable the AS3 language and flash tech actually is.

I know you guys all bandwagon on everything emperor jobs says, but dissing a technology you don't know for advancing your experiences in gaming is outright dumb. What you should be doing is celebrating the fact that you'll have a greater selection of quality content which plays equally well on the web, desktop, or android devices. Slow down on the Apple Koolaid for a minute.

Things have been headed downhill for Adobe since they started transitioning from a Software Development company to a Sales/Marketing company. I don't think they realize they still need to be good at BOTH ... not just Sales/Marketing.

Actually it's entirely possible that there is some poorly coded flash out there that does that. Just b/c you never run into that specific software doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Usually the people who make these claims do fail to mention what they are running in Flash that is producing this CPU time, so that certainly makes it hard to reproduce. Sorry, I test software, so I think about things like this

That's what I've said since this whole stupid anti-flash movement began. You can create poorly written code in any language. Flash doesn't prevent stupid code, but it can never be said that it has no merits and can't run quickly and efficiently

Wow it seems I have struck a lot of nerves here. I have altered my original comment (which were meant to be slightly humorous by the way) so please direct your flames at someone else.

It's fairly obvious that the main thing standing between having Flash support (as an optional download) and iOS is Steve's massive ego. So here's hoping that Tim would not inherit his predecessor's arrogance and stubbornness. Flash is nowhere as buggy, malware-invested and resource intensive as Jobs claims. If it was, HTML5 standard would be adopted everywhere by now, which it's not by a significant margin by the way. And the lot of you only shuns Flash just because the man himself says it's bad.

I have a jailbroken 4th gen iPod Touch. I'm aware of some Flash players lurking in Cydia. I'm also aware that some 3rd party browsers support Flash through proxies. But I find them unoptimised and generally don't work as well as they should. Flash games usually perform abysmal if at all. This shouldn't be the case, if Apple provides at least an option for Flash. Those who still buys Steve's over exaggerated BS can opt not to install the thing and let us who wants have our functionality.

Before you tell me to piss off to Android, I am currently using an Android phone. But I like my iPod Touch as well since the appstore has significantly more gaming apps than Android's marketplace. Similar apps tend to be of a higher quality on iOS too and get more frequent updates. Both platforms had their own pros and cons, but I'm happy with my current setup now. I would still like proper Flash support on my iPod Touch, which would make it an even more amazing gaming device. Continual Adobe support and development of Flash like in the original article would probably make this a reality some day. And no, my Android phone doesn't last ten minutes while playing Flash videos/games and then burst into flames.

Actually I have many years of posting history of hating flash prior to Jobs' open letter last year. Mostly on sites like Arstechnica or the old ISCABBS telnet BBS, but it's been a PITA to me for ages. *shrug* Yes, many do just parrot, you aren't incorrect there.

Usually the people who make these claims do fail to mention what they are running in Flash that is producing this CPU time, so that certainly makes it hard to reproduce.

Pretty good indication that it is entirely BS. I disapprove of Flash as much as the average Mac guy but when used correctly it is a wonderful platform. To compare it to native apps or HTML 5, it is really apples and oranges. There are pros and cons to all software implementations, but people have choices so there is no reasons to be a zealot on one side or the other. If you don't like Flash apps don't buy them.

We heard that Adobe would delivery efficient, powerful, interoperable, ... Flash for mobile devices starting in 2007 and in 2011 it is still not there. Export of Flash games e.g., the well earned praise of Machinarium that are terrific games struggle on iOS and other mobile platforms due to their pedigree that is a Flash "export." Contrast this is Angry Birds that run on many platforms, but coded for each.

At the end of the day, the compromises for cross platform development is enormous, Flash on Mac vs Flash on PC in performance, stability, security, etc. Then to essentially export the Flash code to iOS is not going to enhance code performance.

In a world where CPU performance grows at enormous rate, CPU and power hogs can be afforded in the interest of broad interoperability, but mobile power sensitive, processing limited, ... this will be a major challenge.

If this is going to work, then deep architectural changes are needed in Flash foundations and assuming this is possible it will take time.

League of Legends Mac Beta runs on Adobe Air, and it COMPLETELY SUCKS.

Thanks Adobe, but thanks to Unreal Engine we *already* have console graphics. We're already a bit higher up than the original Xbox, and it wouldn't surprise me if iPad 3 matches the 360 (thanks to the Rogue GPU)

iPhone 4S 64GB, Black, soon to be sold in favor of a Nokia Lumia 920Early 2010 MacBook Pro 2.4GHz, soon to be replaced with a Retina MacBook Pro, or an Asus U500

If you want to deliver games through the web you probably need some kind of plugin. But that is a bigger "if" than it was a few years ago... you now have the option of delivering through the App Store or Steam.